Stargazing
by SimpleCinema
Summary: A year after the events of FE: Awakening, Noire notices that Lucina seems to be very withdrawn, often camping outside in the courtyard in a makeshift tent all by her lonesome, so one night, she attempts to find out why. (Fluff/Smut abound)


She was greeted to the sight of the blue-haired princess immediately upon exiting the courtyard. She sat on the ground, knees pulled up to her chest, almost as if she were curled into a ball, but not quite. She gazed longingly up into the cloudless night sky, shimmering faintly as the stars brilliantly twinkled amidst the deep dark blue hue of the horizon.

She sat in front of a tent that had been setup just outside of the perimeter of the porch. Noire knew where she'd be because she was here almost every night, and after accidentally catching a glimpse of her here. Lucina didn't notice, nor did she take note of it the other times Noire came out there afterward, which definitely made things very awkward. She didn't necessarily mean to stalk her friend, but after coming there by happenstance one night and seeing that expression on the princess's face, she had to make sure she was okay.

It had been a year since the fall of the Fell Dragon, which actually made Noire more worried. She simply had no idea why Lucina seemed to sneak away like this almost every night. After asking where she had been one night a few weeks prior, Lucina had lied to her and said she had been talking with Owain, which furthered her distress. She wanted to ask her, to help her out in any way she could, but Noire's crippling anxiety made even the best of friends difficult to talk to. So naturally she reverted to something her mother would've done, watched from afar. Perhaps there was more of Tharja in her DNA than she would've liked to admit.

Perhaps there was something else too.

Lucina seemed to epitomize a lot of things Noire respected and liked in other people. She was social, but poised. Direct, but nuanced. Elegant, but approachable. All of these things SHOULD have made it easier for Noire to talk to her, but outside of questions and inquiries born from pure courtesy, it was hard. She knew Lucina considered her a friend, and was always nice to her, the two of them had saved each other's lives on several accounts, and yet that mental block still stood in front of Noire like a stone boulder.

She took a deep breath, lungs filling with the crisp summer night air.

She could do it. She could say something. A greeting. A question. Hell, clearing her throat would be enough to get a response, but that was a bit too curt. She slowly made her way across the porch, trying to figure what to say as her body seemed to automatically carry her to the girl. Maybe she could ask why she went to the trouble of setting up a small tent out there.

Lucina was dressed in her normal attire. The only real difference Noire could tell with her was that she wore her hair up in a ponytail, which was odd. Typically she just let it fall down straight with her little headband, but now she looked different. More of her face was visible than usual, her pale porcelain skin almost seemed to reflect the moonlight. Even as far as royals went, she was exceptionally beautiful, even if she had been a bit of a self-described tomboy like her sister Kjelle or her mother.

She was only a few feet away from her. No turning back now.

"Uh..."

It just slipped out, at normal volume she made an unintelligible noise that was somewhere between a hum and a hurried breath, the sudden sound making Lucina jolt and turn towards the archer, eyes widened. Noire was already furious with herself, her nerves were set afire at the implication that she had messed up before anything even began.

Lucina, however, had her expression turn from surprise to relief at seeing her, almost chuckling.

"Wow Noire, you certainly have a fascinating ability to be able to sneak up on people. I like to think I've got a decent set of ears, too," she said trying to brush off the initial awkwardness.

"Haha, Yeah," Noire said, forcing a smile.

Lucina took note of Noire not saying anything after that, despite looking like she wanted to. She did know the archer wasn't terrific at finding the right words.

Lucina motioned for her to take a seat next to her, and Noire immediately obliged at the opportunity to not stand there awkwardly. She sat on the ground, a few feet away from the other girl, and mimicked her position there.

"Are you alright, Noire?"

The blonde shook her head.

"I am. I think so. I'm just... er... um... I'm worried, I think,"

"About me?"

Noire finally made legitimately eye contact.

"Oh, um, yes. How d-did you know?"

Lucina chuckled.

"Well, you're here, for one," she noted.

Noire was on the verge of having a full-blown mood-swing meltdown. Of course it was obvious. She wanted to help her, not ask her useless questions.

"I assure you I'm quite fine, see?" Lucina let out a smile that was, frankly, uncharacteristically bright. Lucina was the picture of poise for many things, but the girl was not a natural smiler. It felt about as forced as Noire felt trying to articulate herself.

"But you're... all alone out here?" She asked, thankful she could finally coherently speak without putting her foot in her mouth.

"I am. Just to... clear my head, I think,"

Noire nodded.

"That's it? Is something bothering you that makes you come out here?" Noire asked.

"Well, if I was completely fine I suppose I would be in my room all the time, so that's definitely a valid point,"

Lucina seemed to say all of this with a certain amount of resignation. Now Noire was just afraid she'd made it all worse.

"O-oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- I mean, I just wanted to see if you were troubled, I didn't mean to bring u-,"

Lucina gave a smile far more becoming of her, one that was tinged with the faintest bit of sadness. It was lamentable that it was the indication of her honesty.

"You didn't, Noire, it's okay. Truth be told, I come out here every night just to have some time to myself away from it all. I think in the past few months I've just not really known what to do with myself. Everything we fought for has been won... and now we're here,"

She seemed like she had more to say, but trailed off, looking back up at the sky. Noire did the same, primarily because she found herself similarly lost. It wasn't that either of them had longed to return to the days of dour misery from their home timeline, or wanted to be back fighting to make sure Grima was laid to rest here once and for all, it was a lack of direction. War was all they had known. It was always about making it one day at a time, and as peace fell over Ylisse, their sense of purpose waned. They were children born from the mistakes and shortcomings of their parents, and they suffered greatly, so why was it like this? Why was there such ennui? It wasn't even as if Noire and Lucina were the only ones, either. Gerome had become somewhat of a recluse. Kjelle never stopped her constant training regiment, and the other children seemed to just try and distract themselves. The adults simply returned to their lives, but they had lives outside of war. The children... they didn't.

"When I come out here," Lucina began, "It let's me think about things totally uninterrupted. I can just think. And feel. And breathe. I want to embrace our newfound freedom somehow, and part of that, I think, is enjoying the leisure of time. Before we had to make 'do or die' decisions all the time. It always had to be quick. But now, I can take my time. And if I don't know what I'm going to do next, I can enjoy thinking about the possibilities,"

Noire knew all too well what that was like. She longed to be able to feel the relief she always craved but never quite grasped it. She was still anxious and on edge, something she wanted to disappear along with Grima, but no such luck.

"I'm sorry about that, Lucina," she said meekly.

She turned over to her.

"It's okay," she began, "Look at us, complaining about peace being unsatisfying. I'm glad this is just between us, else we'd seem ungrateful,"

Both of them couldn't have been more grateful, it was just what also made it all the more painful.

"Do you have any idea what you w-wanna do? At all?"

Lucina's eyes narrowed and her mouth tilted a bit to one side, obviously deep in thought. One thing that had certainly changed about the young woman over the course of their stay in the new timeline was that Lucina gained a lot more in the way of healthy transparency. She was usually very difficult to get a read on, but after everything that happened, and after spending time with the others in a more casual way, her face seemed to be far more active. She didn't have to put on the performance of the fearless leader anymore, and as a result, some of her walls were knocked down.

"I'm not entirely certain," she said, "Part of me wants to join at Father's side as a captain of the Shepherds, but after Valm, we might see peacetime for decades, so that doesn't really give me much to do. I've thought about perhaps leaving for uncharted territory on occasion. From what time I've spent in the library, those who seem to be the most fulfilled in life tend to be those who've traveled, explored, and documented their journey, so that's certainly a possibility,"

Lucina spoke almost as if her better days were behind her, and Noire giggled. She snapped out of her incredulous pondering, unsure if she should be insulted.

"Maybe we should both talk to Severa or something. I think we may have forgotten what it's like to be teenage girls. Maybe we should do that first,"

Lucina laughed a bit herself.

"Okay you raise a good point Noire. I would be averse to such things but I suppose you can't really discount something when you haven't tried it yet... how do you suggest we go about that?"

Noire had an idea pop into her head at that very moment, the first bit of good luck she had all day.

"What about a g-girls night?" She asked.

Lucina raised an eyebrow.

"And what does that entail?"

"Well," Noire began, "I'm not sure, but I think Severa and Cynthia probably would. Why not just hang out with everyone else, we haven't had the chance to do that since we were knighted,"

It was true, and Lucina felt that not only was that a good idea, but an essential one. They had drifted apart from their tight bonds with one another when in fact that should've used peacetime to strengthen it. She missed her friends, and didn't know why it had taken them so long to do something they had dreamed about during the war.

"Well, the night is young, you know," Lucina said suggestively.

Noire knew where this was headed.

"How about this, you gather everyone, Severa first because she'll obviously know what to do and what to get, and I'll head down to the pub with Kjelle and we can get a barrel or two of ale and some wine, and we can all meet up back here, start a campfire, and try this out, hm?"

The two girls seemed to stumble onto a good idea to relieve them from their shared aimlessness. Noire nodded in agreement as the both of them got up, and began to try their little experiment to see if they could raise some morale.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a solid hour of getting people together and waiting on drinks in transit from the local pub, the makeshift, last-minute party began to some much needed success. A bonfire was made, cups and glasses were fetched from the kitchen, and once everyone had arrived, everything picked up. They may have dissolved into three or four main cliques, but everyone there had someone else to talk to. While it had originally been conceived as a girls night, once word spread, the boys joined as well, which wasn't a problem by any means, things just became a little louder.

Lucina was winded most of the night from helping Kjelle carry the barrels to and from their location. She may have been strong, but even Kjelle was a bit put out once all was said and done. She didn't even have the energy to arm wrestle Owain, causing him to claim a victory via forfeit, which still earned him a slap upside the head when he wasn't looking from his cousin. At one point Cynthia became so intoxicated she passed out on poor Brady, who couldn't quite remove the girl from being draped over him.

Eventually they all gathered around, talked a fair bit about what they were all up to, and it was nice to learn that not everyone had been stuck in a rut. Severa had begun designing clothes and apparel with the help of Anna, Laurent had been in the process of writing his own book, and Nah had seemingly taken an interest into becoming a jeweler, of all things. This certainly inspired the two girls who had put this whole shindig together.

Once things were cleaned up, the fire was doused, and everyone had gone, both Noire and Lucina were absolutely decimated, if still riding on the slight happiness high from the events of the evening. It was the first time they had done something like that, without still trying to maintain appearances for their parents or other nobility.

The two girls finally collapsed into the rather conspicuous tent Lucina had set up. They didn't do so by choice, mainly from Noire supporting Lucina's weight and buckling over as they walked, as Lucina had done an uncharacteristic amount of drinking. After a few steps they found themselves on the ground, and crawled to the tent giggling like school children, until they finally rested on each side of the small enclosure, trying to gain composure.

"Y-you never did *hic* tell me why you set this tent up, you know,"

Lucina gave a playful smirk.

"I didn't tell you because you didn't ask. Princesses have their secrets too!"

Her inebriated state of being didn't duol her observational skills.

"You still haven't answered," she remarked.

Lucina blew upwards to send a rogue strand of hair on her face out of her way, and then remained quiet for a moment.

"Sometimes I sleep here," she said plainly, "It's easier... it's like-"

"Like when we were on the run..." Noire finished.

Suddenly the air felt a bit heavier. So many of her old habits, small things mostly, were still present from back then. She had abandoned her intensely wild mood swings that she had become synonymous with, but small ticks and behaviors would occasionally remind her of the necessity of the past that had bore them.

"I'm sorry, Luci," Noire said with an undue amount of conviction.

"It's fine," Lucina said, only slightly on edge by the shortened usage of her name, "it's not a big deal or anything, it's just something that helps sometimes,"

She wore that sad smile again. One Noire really hated seeing due to its indicator of honesty, and that honesty's inherent sadness that loomed over the girl with blue hair.

"Every night?"

She shook her head slowly, turning to face Noire.

"No. But most nights... I..."

Lucinda's eyes welled up with tears, something Noire hadn't seen in years.

"... most nights it is hard to sleep by myself... but it's still easier... somehow. I just remember feeling safe with everyone else and now-"

Lucina went from teary-eyed to immediately choking out a sad, drunken sob. Noire hurriedly put her arms around her friend, letting her bury her face into Noire's shoulder as she began to cry. She kept trying to squeak something out, but Noire, who had suddenly sobered up, kept softly shushing her as she stroked her hair, attempting to calm the inebriated girl.

When she could finally more steadily breathe she wiped her eyes, not entirely departing from the nook that was Noire's grasp.

"Shit... I'm so s-sorry Noire I don't know where that c-came from,"

Noire pulled the girl in closer, tightly hugging her.

"It's okay, Luci. Please d-don't feel bad. I have trouble some nights too," she said with a bit of despondency.

"You do?"

Noire nodded.

"Not trouble sleeping... trouble once I'm asleep,"

"Nightmares?"

She nodded again slowly.

"I have them almost every night. Sometimes they're memories. Sometimes they're just things I imagined... they're never good,"

Lucina sniffled, attempting to gather herself a bit.

"I'm sorry... you shouldn't be plagued with those now that it's all over,"

"I had them back when we were on the run too," she remarked casually.

Lucina looked in her eyes.

"You did? You never m-mentioned it,"

Noire sighed.

"No, I didn't, but half of the reason was because I knew nothing could be done. It was far from the worst problem we had,"

"What was the other half?" The princess inquired.

Noire let a single tear down her own cheek, causing the recovered Lucina's brow to furrow.

"You'll laugh at me," she said with a timid smile.

Lucina's face softened, her voice easing a bit. There was a tightness in her chest she couldn't quite explain whilst gazing at the blonde so close to her.

"I won't. My word is my bond," the bluenette assured.

Noire gave a gentle, wistful chuckle.

"You, Luci. Our fearless leader. Who could be afraid of nightmares with someone like you looking out for them?"

Lucina was shocked. Her eyes widened as Noire kept her meek smile. Suddenly tears of a different sort returned to her.

"Noire I... I never thought of myself that way... I just... did what I had to do," she said.

Noire nodded.

"You know... back when I was even quieter than I am now, when I barely talked to anyone, I would practice talking to myself a lot. Something I often practiced was telling you how much I looked up to you... envied you... and admired you. And I always imagined you saying that, it's nice to know I wasn't too far off,"

She said it looking happier than Lucina had ever seen her. Most often, Noire looked like she was ok the verge of tears, so this newfound side of her was refreshing, not to mention the added humility of her words.

"Noire I... don't know.. what to say,"

Noire smiled.

"It's okay, I know hearing me talk like this must be strange, alcohol helps, but when I'm around people I trust, I'm a lot different. Or that's what I'm guessing,"

Lucina gave a light chuckle.

"It's nice. I like it,"

Noire felt all the anxiety she had wash away with those words, for the first time since Grima had been slain, she had felt relief.

"Lucina... I think I have something I need to say,"

Lucina inherited Noire's discarded anxiety.

"Yes?"

Noire felt so embolden by the evening's events that she couldn't stop herself. It was now or never.

"I think... no. I know... I know I have feelings for you,"

Lucina barely batted an eye. For some reason, the revelation didn't phase her in the slightest. It wasn't as if she expected it, but the words felt so natural coming from her, it was like nothing.

Lucina couldn't deny, there was something there. She never knew what her stance on her sexuality was because it was simply never of importance. Now that she had begun to settle into normal life, she found herself attracted to people based purely on circumstance, gender hardly played a role in any of it at all. She did feel attraction, but it only came rooted from those who she knew and understood. Now that Noire was honest with her, she saw something new before her. A girl who desperately fought her anxiety to tell her this. A girl with a lovey smile and beautiful eyes.

"I... thats kind of you to tell me, Noire," she said, placing a hand on the girl's cheek, wiping away a tear, "I think you're wonderful,"

The two girls were on the same page, and a silence filled the small gap between them. For a moment, the only thing in their world was one another's eyes.

Noire, despite her newly mustered courage, remained frozen, knowing she couldn't act or say anything after getting that out, waiting for Lucina to do or say something. And finally, that something came, in the form of a kiss.

Lucina leaned in and pressed her lips to Noire's, hoping the other girl wouldn't immediately pull away from her. It hadn't been her first time, as Servera had taken it upon herself to teach Lucina once after she revealed she hadn't kissed anyone before. Lucina was a slow learner, but after a solid practice session, she became far more comfortable in her ability to do so, and applied that practice here, even being so bold as to take the back of Noire's head with her hand.

As she pulled in, their bodies pressed together. Noire was soft, her lips plump and tasted slightly of alcohol. Lucina was a bit more angular, less curvy, and her skin was a it more rough. But there was a gentleness to her that Noire found absorbing and intoxicating. When Noire slipped the other girl her tongue, Lucina made no effort to fight back, and the two began to fiercely make out in the tent under the night sky.

Hands shifted, legs brushed against one another, and the girls still didn't break their kiss. Noire, unlike Lucina, had no experience, but that didn't keep her from going all out in what she thought was doing the right thing. However, due to lack of prior experience, she was a fair bit more curious than her partner. Noire didn't anticipate the evening going like this, and now it was easy to see that her feelings for Lucina were deeply rooted in denial, but she still knew she preferred the way girls looked physically. She wanted to see more, to feel more, and so she did, sliding her hands from Lucina's shoulders down to the curves of her waist.

Eventually, they had to find air to breathe, and the kiss was broken, the two of them fiercely panting in front of each other. Lucina smiled, and Noire returned the gesture, eyeing the girl in front of her.

"Have you ever...?" Noire let this unfinished question linger.

Lucina shook her head with a bit of nervous excitement.

"Have you?" She asked back.

Noire shook her head. That helped a bit, being on level playing field.

Noire looked down at Lucina's clothing, and then back up at her, clearly looking for permission. Once Lucina picked up on it, she nodded enthusiastically, and the girls began aggressively pawing at the other, looking for buttons, zippers, and seams. Thankfully neither was wearing an outfit that befit a bra, which made things moderately easier, but the mess of hands and anxiousness didn't help either girl. After a matter of a few minutes, they found themselves pressed against each other, topless. Lucina felt a bit inadequate, seeing as it was suspected Noire had the biggest bust size of anyone in the camp, barring her own mother and maybe Cynthia, whereas Lucina was a bit more lithe and modest in terms of build, but once they took notice, they couldn't pull their gazes away from one another.

Surprisingly, the first one to take action was Noire, as she went right for lightly kissing at Lucina's neck, and began touching her breasts with both hands, massaging them as she planted kisses down her collar. Lucina didn't know how to respond at first, feeling like she was moaning at three different things all at once, having them all overlap into a vaguely animal-sounding noise she didn't recognize. Lucina's boobs were perky and soft, so Noire did her best to be gentle, simply liking how good her skin felt against her fingers, and appreciating the taste of her skin.

Lucina briefly pulled the girl upward to kiss her again, clumsily pressing the palms of her hands against Noire's chest, almost succumbing to a bit of jealousy seeing as Noire seemed to be the literal manifestation of goddess-like beauty. She was a fair bit shorter than Lucina, but her boobs and shapely ass more than made up for it. It was easy to forget how aggressively attractive she was since she was usually so withdrawn and timid.

Lucina hadn't really ever displayed proactive sexual interest before. Any time before where she had tried masturbation it came from a sense of hormonal need, like fulfilling a chore so that she could properly think without being distracted. She didn't really have any fantasies either... at least not until that very moment. She loved how Noire felt, a soft blanket of naked warmth that enveloped her completely. Once she mustered up the raw courage to be a bit more precise and go for Noire's breasts, she felt as if she could be there for hours, listening to the pale girl moan into her mouth on top of her as she ecstatically writhed as Lucina massaged her.

It lasted for what felt like hours, which was fine for the both of them, until Noire snapped back into reality and realized she wanted to continue further with the princess, who looked somehow twice as aggressive and twice as vulnerable as she did normally all at once.

She broke away from Lucina's hands, and went down a bit, face right against Lucina's chest, and began to kiss her left breast while massaging the one on the right. She gradually began to suck on her nipple out of what felt like pure instinct, and Lucina didn't object, letting the contrast of Noire's cold hand on one side and her hot mouth on the other.

After switching between the left and the right, Noire made her way back up, looking down over Lucina, waiting for the princess to open her eyes. It took a moment for Lucina to stop, her brain felt like it was operating on a delay.

The two girls nervously smiled at each other, looking at each other, catching their breath.

"H-hi," Noire awkwardly squeaked.

Lucina chuckled.

"Hello madame," she said in a comically exaggerated deep voice.

Noire leaned in and planted an uncharacteristically chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Luci..." she quietly purred, "Do you want to keep going?"

Noire couldn't deny it anymore, she really wanted this. It may have been what she wanted from the beginning. And now it was there, in front of her.

Lucina nodded.

"As long as I get to remind you I have no idea what I'm doing, yes. Yes I do,"

Noire grinned.

"It's okay... I don't either. But..."

Noire moved her hand from Lucina's collarbone and dragged it slowly across her skin, grazing it lightly, until it arrived to the hem of her leggings.

"I just wanna make you feel how you deserve to feel..." she whispered into her lover's ear.

Lucina felt something stir inside her when Noire took that time. She heard the slightest bit of her mother's sultry, low monotone in those words, and was very okay with it.

Noire went for another open-mouthed Kiss, and as Lucina joined in the kiss, she slipped her hand under Lucina's leggings, pulling them down slightly, along with her underwear. Lucina lifted her lower half up a bit to shimmy the leggings downward. Noire had been slightly more experienced in the avenue of pleasing oneself because she had an unusually high sex drive, and could only hope that would help her out here as well.

Lucina wasn't ready for it, so as soon as Noire's delicate fingers brushed over her core, she yelped a bit into her mouth, but steadily calmed herself down as Noire slowly teased on the outer lips of her pussy. She was wet, nearly dripping, and Noire used that opportunity to start off a bit faster, teasing her with a bit more vigor, making Lucina shoot upwards a bit, holding onto Noire.

Her fingers were soaked, so after only a minute or so, she took that as the opportunity to really begin, and slipped two fingers inside her, causing Lucina to break the kiss and loudly moan, throwing her head back a few inches as her body stiffened. Noire used her other hand to cradle Lucina's neck, as she rose up a bit, almost sitting, pressing their foreheads together as she began to finger her with more regularity. There was something different, far more invigorating about not just doing it to yourself, the power that Noire felt she had now made her feel almost drunk, as with every pump of her fingers Lucina seemed to contract a bit, tensing up and tightening herself with every push inward, and releasing a bit with every pull. It was proving difficult too, as Lucina proved to be fairly tight.

The two girls didn't even kiss for a moment, just reveling in the copious amounts of heavy breathing and the pleasure being received.

"Gods... fuck... please..." Lucina whimpered.

Noire planted a kiss on her lips and continued.

"Please what?"

Lucina looked at her, hungrily, her eyes widened.

"Fuck me... harder,"

Noire needed no more incentive, and started going even faster, which gave way for Lucina to start bucking her hips, trying her best not to absolutely pounce onto Noire and start doing the same to her. Ever since she latched into Lucina's breasts she thought about doing the same to Noire's, and now it was becoming unbearable.

But Noire took it up a notch.

She slowed down momentarily, but backed a few inches away, then dipping her head downwards, making herself even with Lucina's pussy. She didn't take a finger out, but Lucina still whined a bit at the lack of motion, but was silenced as Noire tongue began to tease the outside of her folds as she continued. She placed herself more strategically, and began to suck on her clit as her fingering continued. Lucina couldn't even make a noise momentarily, she was just in awe of the feeling of Noire's tongue on her and her fingers inside her.

Lucina tasted sweet, something that was unexpected but certainly appreciated. She knew she had to keep her voice down somewhat but it didn't really stop her from nearly screaming when Noire finally seemed to get the girl to a fever-pitch of warmth, where a resurgence of pleasure seemed to explode right out of her as she finally came, flattening the girl out on her back, eyes closed, mouth open, trying to bathe in the feeling for as long as she possibly could. When she finally opened her eyes, Noire was there beside her, playfully batting her eyelids at the princess that made her giggle a bit.

"Did I d-do well?" She asked.

Lucina answered the question by leaning in and kissing the blonde with newfound vigor and enthusiasm. Something she was going to do a lot of in the near future.

"Well enough for me to worry, there's no way I'll be that good," she said semi-nervously.

Noire smiled.

"Doesn't matter to me," she said, "as long as you're here, I couldn't care less,"

Lucina was touched by this comment, but couldn't help but feel a little motivated.

"Doesn't mean I can't try," she said coyly.

Noire raised her eyebrows as Lucina, who looked absolutely exhausted, suddenly got a second wind, pinning the girl down in one swift motion right over her, taking her in for another deep kiss.

It was Noire's turn to be treated like a princess.


End file.
